Red Dawn-The Beginning

Daniel was sitting in a seat vaguely listening to the others while watching Logan and holding him. He still hadn't woke up through all of this, which in retrospect is probably a good thing as he would have been terrified of the darkness in the caves. Either way the father was growing more and more apprehensive as the hours wore on that perhaps his son wouldn't wake up at all so much so he didn't even marvel at the Star Wars arcade machine.

Just as he was nodding off he felt a smaller hand tighten on his as Logan lifted his head and looked around slightly confused with blurry eyes as he rubbed them like he was waking up from a long nap.

"Daddy I want pizza," he blurted out abruptly and completely off topic. Logan's face turned more confused as his father cried for joy and crushed him to himself in a hug of relief.

Jason knew it would come to this, checking every room for something of use; he had finally gotten time to think. The Russians ad probably wanted something of America's from Area 51, figuring it would be easier to obtain it in all the chaos. He was probably there to protect that very thing, maybe use the place as base. He actually definite this would be the new base, president would draw plans here and ultimately he would get a rest for once in his life. Everyone just found a room and settled down; most took roommates while Jason took his own room further down the hall. After all the hell he had just experienced he wouldn't be able to sleep till' later on. Jason set down his weapon, his backpack next to the bed and laid down, resting his eyes for a moment. He fidgeted with his dog tags, remembering the other pair he had in his pocket taking them out he read the names," Mario 'Mad dog' Rodriguez."

Mario was gone now, gunned down by Russians just a day before; he remembered him as an acquaintance, having a reputation for toughness. But still went pale faced seeing the Wreakers rip through soldiers like a scythe sweeping through wheat, as sad as his death was he won in the end Mario was the one that really escaped. Jason, a condemned survivor, caught in the middle of global apocalypse. Jason took a whiskey canister out his backpack, along with a notebook and a pen, taking a sip of out of the canister he then opened his small notebook and began to write.

Matt raises an eye at Mila. "Roaches, eh? Got a Roach-phobia?" He stares at her with a joking smile. "Lemme go get something," he adds before leaving the room. He enters the other room just in time to hear Logan ask for pizza. "Alright kiddo, let me get you something." He rushes off to the Storage Room and grabs a microwave pizza, and dashes back to the barracks, stuffing it into a microwave. After it completes, he brings it back to Logan and hands over the pizza. "Enjoy." He grabs another crate that is still needed to be transported to the lab, and carries it over back to the lab and sets it down, where Kevin works impassively. He rubs his eyes and then his head. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm feeling pretty bad. Like a night at the bar actually. I'm ready to nod off."

He sways a little, the little dash wearing him down even more. His head is pounding, pain rolling off in waves. His muscles are slightly shaking his whole body, and his heart pounds hard and occasionally erratically. His wound aches even more and he can feel his mind becoming numb to his body as he collapses to the floor, not unconscious though. He moans and curls into a ball, clutching his gut and moaning rythmically.

A shudder ran through Mila just to hear the word "roach" again so soon after her encounter, and she nodded. "Blattodephobia. Ever since I was little. To make it worse, Florida is crawling with them, no pun intended." As Matt left the room, she took to watching Kevin work for a bit until Matthew rejoined them.

Just when she was about to ask what Kevin was working on, Matt toppled over, groaning and grasping at himself. "Matt? What's going on? Kevin, what's wrong with him?" she asked as she knelt to check on him, clearly concerned.

"Ah hell, don't tell me that vaccine you gave him is wearing off, doc," Mike said as he watched Matt though he placed a hand out to gesture for Mila to stay back. Kevin was the doctor, not them; it might have been just the concussion he had received earlier or fatigue getting to him. It didn't matter. They'd only get in the way and if Matt really was turning...

AJ shook the other man's hand. "AJ, or Andrew if you prefer. Sounds like a helluva time just to end up stuck in a cave in Nevada," AJ said, wanting more and more that the group had decided to just try a new route and high tail it over to Las Vegas. At least there they could have suffered with some entertainment, securing a place might have been a hassle but these army types seemed very good at shooting, but not good with the whole staying in one place for more than an hour.

Kevin rushes over and rolls Matt over to reveal his eyes red and bleeding, and him scratching at his nose which is oozing blood and some sort of grayish color liquid. His wound is open and bloody, and pus runs down the edge and some sort of gray matter sticks to it. "Shit shit shit," Kevin mutters. "Everyone back off. He's infected." He kneels and takes a sample while Matt moans incoherently, rolling a little. "I'm cold," he says in a little kid's voice, the similarity similar to Logan's almost. "Don't leave me. Please." Kevin grabs a machine and runs the blood. He shakes his head. "It's not good. Gene matchups don't look good at all." He examines his wound again and scrapes off some of the infected tissue and pours something on it. "Matt, you're gonna be fine," he lies calmly, and he stealthily flicks the safety off of his Desert Eagle.

"Help me out." He gestures for someone to help Matt onto a table with restraints. Two Rangers enter the room, Knowles and another man, who's nametape reads 'Prelowski.' Knowles' expression hardens while Prelowski pales, but both raise their rifles, the situation repeating again. "What's going on here?" Knowles roars.

"Oh no...no, come on. What about the stuff you gave us? I thought it worked..." Mila said in disbelief, now scared for the both of them. She had essentially the same substance running through her blood. If it wasn't strong enough to kill off the infection the first time...she'd soon be in a similar state. Moving to Matt's head, she helped Kevin lift the soldier's body onto a table by grabbing under his arms. She set him down as gently as possible, though her leg complained at the extra weight she'd put on it.

"Hey it's probably just a side effect of the medicine. The doc here hasn't gotten all the kinks worked out just yet, but he'll get you fixed up, okay? No worries," she said, patting Matt's shoulder as Kevin quickly found the restraints. "Is there anything I can do?" she asked in a lower tone, turning toward the non-presidential Roth brother.

Jason had finished writing, closing the notebook and stuffing back into his backpack. He figured he'd take a tour of place before going to sleep. Grabbing his whiskey canister, he lifts himself from off the bed. Trudging down the hall; most marines were probably asleep he on the other hand would have swallow a purple capsule to do that. Halfway down the hall he remembered he was out of those, turning about he quickly pulls out an empty container on the front printed Valium; he walks more quickly down the hall heading for the lab he passed up on his way in. Hoping he could get a refill, putting the container in his pocket he unscrewed the cap of his whiskey canister taking a rather large sip of it.

Jason had made it to the lab, a container of Valium in his right hand; stepping through the doorway he sees a doctor hover over a man whimpering.

"Fuck.." he says stopping dead in his tracks

The man is in bad shape, the doctor holds a pistol in his hands as he examines the patient. Jason could see this man was infected, in his both his pity and overactive curiosity he decides to lean on the wall across from the worried civilians. A slender girl, a young man, along with a grown one away watching the event unfold. They didn't watch in horror but he could tell they knew man. Jason doesn't say anything to them, he knew it wasn't the time for introductions.

"Mitsuke, Gibson is turning a little gray. Stand by," Knowles radios in while he and Prelowski move over, watching. "Comfort him," Kevin says with a glance at Mila. "He obviously only likes you." Almost on cue Matt grabs Mila's hand, clutching on tight, eyes scared and open. "I dun wanna die," he says, his voice quivering. "This is gonna hurt," Kevin mutters, taking out a scalpel and slicing off tissue around the wound. Matt's mouth opens in a soundless scream, and everyone can almost hear a Wreaker screech, almost. His mouth is open in the certain way, wide, that only Wreakers can.

Kevin looks at the wound again before cutting off more flesh, and Matt's legs twitch. Kevin throws the bloody flesh in some sort of container and then sprays something onto the wound before sewing it up, his hands bloody. He next goes back to his machine and types some more before the machine begins making noises, and he inserts chemicals into the machine which then begins chugging and mixing. Kevin hooks Matt up to a regular IV with two tubes, and after the chemicals finish mixing, he inserts it into the tube and the liquid begins entering Matt's veins. He groans, and relaxes somewhat, his eyes gently closing into a peaceful sleep. Kevin sits beside him and washes his hands anxiously. "You, girl, take a seat. You're staying in here until we know you're not infected too," Knowles says warningly. Kevin opens his mouth, about to say something, then thinks better of it and sits back, watching the chemicals before deciding to hook Matt up to a basic vital signs monitor, and then sits down to watch the readouts. Knowles turns to a new soldier who enters the room, obviously shocked. "Jarhead. What's your name? And better get yourself a weapon. I'm Sergeant Knowles."

Jason looks up at Sergeant Knowles, coming out of his shock of how horrifying the transformation can be.

"I'm Sergeant Blackman, but I'm afraid I left my weapon back in the barracks. You don't happen to have sidearm do ya?" Jason replied, giving out a fake chuckle. He knew it was the wrong time for humor, but all he could say; getting a few weird looks he rushes back to his room. Valium could wait, sprinting into his room and scooping up his SCAR-H and running back; he could have just stayed away from the lab and without Valium he wouldn't be able to sleep knowing a potential Wreaker was in the bunker. Jason returned, keeping his rifle lowered but keeping the safety off; the others began to pay notice to him. Jason decided not say anything, now wasn't the time.

Mila gripped Matt's hand through his ordeal, standing by him as he'd done for her. "You're not going to die. I didn't die, remember? Kevin here obviously knows his stuff; he knows how to fix this. Just keep talking to me, alright?" She didn't know what else to do. He had her palm locked up so crushingly she thought her knuckles might snap.

She shot a glare at Jason when he laughed.

Before she could say anything cutting in reprimand, however, Matt's grip loosened and she felt the blood rushing back into her fingertips. He was, by all appearances, asleep. She released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in, and sighed with mild relief that he was at least not screaming anymore. That awful sound, even if it was still partially human and very quiet, cut her to the bone. It took her back to just a few hours ago, when she was the one strapped to a table with fire and ice battling through her veins.

"You could ask nicely for once Knowles. Wouldn't kill ya," she grumbled, irritable over the situation. "Not like I was going anywhere anyway."

Somberly, she pulled her seat closer to the table and sat down, drawing her knees to her chest. So far, she felt no change in herself, but the prospect of that reversing at any moment kept her anxious. Rocking gently, she kept an eye on the patient monitor. Although she put up a stubborn front most times, right now she just looked like the scared girl that she was.

There was one bright side to all this though: the roach problem was long forgotten.

Subsequent to the man falling "asleep", the girl sat down curling up in a chair. Jason figured that this girl had been through a lot. He scooted closer to the others, leaning his weapon against the wall, and took a sip of whiskey. He noticed another soldier looking distressed.

"Here," Jason said, handing the whiskey canister over. "It'll take the edge off; not that you haven't heard that line before."

Jason wasn't very good at empathy, but rather honesty, which most didn't appreciate. Most expected you to lie to them and give them a speech of comfort; Jason had never received that sort of speech nor did he intend to give one. The soldier gave Jason an awkward look, accepting the canister.

"Thanks," the soldier said, taking a gulp. The man looked like he needed it and the bunker was cold anyways. Jason couldn't help but make excuses for his drinking problem, he couldn't just quit and rehab was probably being run by some Wreaker version of Dr. Drew.

((OOC: Hope my reference there isn't too dull.))

Last edited by Sederous on Wed Jul 14, 2010 3:15 am; edited 2 times in total

"Well Andrew," Sam said feeling more relaxed, "I can see you're not one of the ones who wants to stay. The thing is I don't want to be around the military when they realise society has collapsed: They've got the guns and power, we've got the only female for miles around. I've seen how Matt is looking at her, what if suddenly he realises he doesn't need to ask he can just take?"

Sam leant forward more urgently, "We need to find somewhere isolated, so this is a good start. We need to find somewhere secure, so check two for this place. It needs to be sustainable....which is where this fails. But, above all, we need to be away from large groups of people and need to make sure we surround ourselves with people we trust our lives with. I don't trust the US military with our lives."

Sam shrugged, "So we have to get out of here. But I don't know where we can go...."

It was as Sam finished his sentence and began to think furiously that he heard Matt's scream from a few rooms away. Almost immediately he stood, "What the hell was that?!"

He pulled out his pistol, cocking it and poking his head out the doorway. "AJ I've got a real bad feeling about this.....Mike! Mila! Where the fuck are you guys?!"

AJ followed after sam with his G36C at the ready. He considered what Sam was saying and knew that he agreed with the man's ideas of being away when things really started to hit the fan. And besides all of that there was still the fact that remaining stationary could prove devastation if the wreakers really started to pour it on.

Mike gave a sigh of relief at the same time as Mila, glad that was over with and Matt was relatively back to normal. How ever the amount of normal could be obtained from his situation at least. From down the hall he heard Sam shout. Mike, popped his head to shout back," Yeah how about you watch you language back there, Sam. I doubt Mr. Daniel would like Logan to repeat crap like that. We're in the lab, we had a situation but it's good now."

Kevin looks up at AJ and Sam entering the room. Knowles looks up and gives a wry grin. "Hello. Good you're here. We can use the extra guns. Gibson here doesn't seem quite as 100% as previously thought, and we're watching him and the girl." Kevin shakes his head somewhat but continues to mix the chemicals.

Suddenly Matt thrashes and Kevin quickly secures him with wrist and ankle restraints. His eyes open and glow red and inhuman, and he screeches a Wreaker screech. His skin is not even gray and still very human, and the blood flow is stopped though it appears he is half Wreaker. He attempts to bite Kevin, who dashes out of the way and injects something into the IV bag and Matt falls unconscious again. Knowles had raised his weapon and lowers it, panting, Kevin looking frightened at the close call, hands on his knees and trying to regain his breath. He finally relaxes and takes a seat again, his expression cloudy.

Forehead resting on her knees, one might assume that Mila had fallen asleep had it not been for the tapping of her feet. Little, repetitive movements were what kept her sane sometimes; the simple things that distracted her anxiety.

Commotion on the table jolted her back to the present situation, the shriek sending her almost to the floor as her chair tipped precariously. She caught herself and moved back, watching in frozen fear as Kevin struggled to sedate the soldier. When she finally reseated herself, she pulled the chair back much further than before, trembling badly as frightened tears gathered in her eyes. If Matt didn't make it, if he made the transformation, surely she was next.

"Kevin?" she asked, her voice sounding small and terrified. She couldn't bring herself to ask the rest of the questions running through her head, so decided to let him talk if he felt there was anything to be said. He knew the most about what was happening, and she doubted that even he knew the full extent.

He glances at her and shakes his head. "He won't make it if I don't get more supplies. I can suppress all symptoms, which is what I'm attempting to do, and he'll be okay, but it'll be a short amount of time. We'll have a small window to save him. " He looks her over again and catches something he missed. "You should be fine. It seems he was reinfected by his wound. Got too close to a Wreaker and the cells entered his bloodstream through the open flesh. Bad shit. But it happened."

He goes back to his machine and works on something else, adding more liquid to the bag. "There should be some supplies here," he says, pointing at a building way off to the side of a map, and winces. "It's an isolated lab. A private cabin is located a half mile off and we can enter in through the basement. Only problem are the Wreakers in that region. However, a military group is heading out in the morning to get some hardware from Area 51. Good stuff there apparently."

It was a stormy night. The wind whistled across the door of the cabin causing the door to creek eerily and the windows to rattle while branches scraped across, begging to escape their torment. Outside a figure lurked in the darkness, moving through the rain towards the small abode. The glint of metal shown from high right hand as lighting zagged across the sky illuminating the world in one quick flash. The woman inside had no idea that tonight she would take her last breath, that tonight she would die all because she knew one little secret…

The scratching of the pen on paper came to a halt. The woman peering down at the words she’d just written from behind her rectangular spectacles frowned before ripping the page from her notebook in one swift snatch accented by a grunt. The blaring electronic beat reverberating in her headphones only seemed to punctuate her aggravation. “Ugh, lame, horribly lame and incredibly cliché.”

There was a toss and the ball of paper wound up sailing towards the waste basket which was already rapidly reaching its capacity. It hit the rim, rolled too far to the left and found itself rolling along the wooden floor while the woman scowled at the indignant piece of paper. “Dad would even scold me. Audrey would shoot me... and then pick up one of those authors still using sparkly vampires to publish instead.” Her eyes rolled over to her phone as if expecting her publisher to instantly call although the battery was still removed... a precaution to keep anyone from disturbing her during her trip. Nothing killed her Muse faster than nagging publishers and she didn't want to deal with any sob stories. She needed to focus.

The woman gave a slight shudder before taking a sip of wine and glaring at the new crisp blank page. Now how to start this chapter? "Hmmmmm… hmmm... hmmmmmm.”

Her brown eyes wandered past the stationary bike in the corner, across the modest kitchen and the large pantry, continuing along the walls of the little house... if you could call it a house. It wasn't like she was actually looking at the walls though; there wasn't much on them short of a few old pictures of supposed UFOs. The former occupant apparently thought they were theme-appropriate given the little building was relatively close to Area 51. Relatively meaning well out of the buffer zone the government had installed and considered by most people to be in the middle of no where. Since she'd been here Lauren had yet to see a car go by or a visitor walk past which suited her perfectly. She had no desire to go through the trouble of setting up out here to simply have alien watchers stumbling across the back yard... if you could call it a yard.

When it came to kick-starting her Muse, nothing beat isolation. There was no TV, no radio, no internet, not even consistent phone service if her phone had had a battery in it to try to get a signal. If she wanted news, she had to drive her Jeep which she'd removed the radio from into the nearest town and brave the odd mix of conspiracy theorists and alien lovers to get it and frankly she didn't care. 2012 had passed and the world hadn't blown up which meant it would continue being the same messed up place it always was: lying politicians, catastrophes in poorer countries, celebrity scandals, the latest major crime. She'd heard them all before as far as she was concerned and listening to it would only distract her from her work. She had to finish another novel and somehow ensure that it lived up to the quality of her first which was a harrowing task for the still relatively young author. One novel published before she was even twenty six only left her itching for another big success before she hit the dreaded mark of thirty. There were a few years to spare, but she wasn't keen on simply waiting for the clock to tick by.

Leaning back in her cushy chair, Lauren brushed a few stray locks of wavy brown dark brown hair out of her face before returning her attention to her notebook once more. The electronica blaring from her headphones began to fade leaving a brief gap of silence before a beat that would drive most people insane took its place. Screeching, thumping, a metallic sound reminiscent of a working factory running at full speed, and even a touch of guitar echoed in her ears. And the sound sparked something, the pen hit paper again and she continued on oblivious to the hell that had broken loose in the world while constructing her own fictional brand of horror.

Sam shrugged at Mike, "Nothing wrong with a bit of swearing Mike mate. I still remember when my mum called the guy driving that 4 x 4 a jumped up cunt, who couldn't find his arse if he had his head stuck up the fucking thing."

Sam sighed happily, "Now that's how you raise a child."

Instead of choosing to finally win himself over into Sam's good books Knowles instead managed to make himself look even more like a fool. "The girl has a name Knowles. Her name is I'm not a cunt like you, so stop acting like one."

Feeling increasingly irritable, stressed out, fatigued and above all trapped Sam literally leapt at the opportunity of getting out of the base when Kevin offered the opportunity. "I'll happily volunteer to go to the cabin," he interjected. "Even if it means we leave now. In fact I'd prefer to leave now and get it over and done with."

It was a wise decision Sam decided. He could make sure the army didn't hoard supplies, see as to just how clear the surrounding area was and so the chance of surviving when venturing outside and it also meant he would know a good route out of the place, if it was ever needed.

Mike's hand landed on Sam's beanie. "Chill Sam. Besides, you aren't in any condition to be tromping around again. You need some sleep." Taking his hand away he had to frown looking down at Matt and then over to Mila. Finally looking over to Kevin he went on, "Though I can sort of see what Sam is looking at. We'd just like to see if one of us can come along to help get these resources along with any news or supplies."

"You want to go back out there? Did you get hit on the head or something too? Not only are there soulless flesh-devouring monstrosities roaming around, but there are also those guys who decided that now would be a good time to attack America. Sleep deprivation must be taking a worse toll on you than me," Mila said, turning to Sam in surprise. He had been terrified of the Wreakers, and now he was volunteering to march right back into their territory? Kevin had even warned them that they would be out there and in the way.

"But if you're going, then I am too. There's no way I can sleep here anyway. Not with those bugs crawling through the blankets," she decided, making a face of disgust. While what she'd said about sleeping was true, she really didn't want to go back outside. She wanted to stay hidden in the bunker as long as possible, where she wouldn't have to see any more Wreakers for a good while. The only problem was that the case with Matt might make that impossible anyway. Kevin said that he could subdue the symptoms for a bit, but after that, Matthew Gibson would be just another man with a bullet through his skull.

Kevin does something with the chemicals and shortly after replaces the chemical IV bags. In a few minutes Matt awakes, sweat on his brow. He doesn't have a trace of Wreaker and Kevin grins after looking at the readouts, and releases Matt's restraints. Matt sits up. "Dammit. Again." He rubs his head and Kevin looks seriously at everyone in the room. "Look. I'm gonna talk to my brother. He can rouse the Rangers and we're all heading out to the warehouse for the chemicals. This could be vital to future cures. Especially if my prototype doesn't work," he says, staring right at Mila. "Now Matt is perfectly stable for 24 hours. After that, there's nothing I can do," he says, looking right at Knowles then Matt.

Knowles gives a grim smile. He slaps Matt on the back. "Alright Lieutenant, looks like you're back with us. Let's get this cure thingy." He leaves, Pelowksi in reluctant tow after a nervous grin at Matt. Matt looks directly at Mila, and everyone in the room can see the primal fear in his eyes. He feels a bond between them that seems to be strengthened by the fact they are the two facing death by infection, and that is very evident. All of his professionalism and strength seems sapped and all that is left is his core. Kevin helps him to his feet and glances at Mila, gesturing for her to stay back with him.

"Alright you guys, get loaded up," he says, clearly dismissing everyone else. Meanwhile, Knowles spreads the word to Jason's marines and his Rangers, and the two groups regretfully load up in the armory after a brutal half hour of sleep. Delta Force hasn't even unpacked and is in fact already in the armory, checking out kit and are ready to go in minutes, poking fun at the Rangers, Marines, and civilians for being 'soft' in the way only tough, professional soldiers can. The ribbing clearly isn't meant to be serious, especially in a time like this, and serves only to be a sort of preparation for the upcoming fight. Jonathon and his Secret Service agents elect to stay though, as they all struggle to maintain communications with national and international contacts.

As soon as everyone is out of the room, Kevin sighs and closes the door. "Mila, look. If Matt doesn't survive, there is a good chance you won't either. Something could go wrong. I mean, his wound seems to be the issue, but my prototype didn't cure him. You aren't immune, and that means the antibodies aren't working. Now look. I know he's latched onto you of sorts, and has some feelings for you, and the current situation isn't making this like a normal situation. I'm going to be blunt: How do you feel about him? This is not me delving into personal relations. This is a very real question I need to know. It can affect his current psyche."

OOC: Sorry to get everyone out of the room, but I wanted to get a lot done in this post. That way Kevin and Mila can start their chat while everyone else grumbles and gets ready for a raid. The armory is fully stocked for Special Forces use. Use your imagination.

"I..uh..." Mila stuttered, looking flustered by Kevin's rapid-fire speech. He'd switched topics from her potential doom to Matthew's all-too-apparent interest in her. It was a bit much to take in. "He's a good guy and all, from what I can tell. But how am I supposed to make that kind of judgment in just two days? I've only talked to him a handful of times and not exactly under the easiest of conditions to get to know someone."

She felt her face getting warm again and looked at her boots, even more embarrassed by the potential color in her cheeks. "Besides, this isn't really the time to be thinking about a relationship or anything like that... I mean we're in the middle of a war for humanity at the moment. I'm a little more worried about flip-flopping from life and death here..."

Finally lifting her eyes, she tried to read Kevin's facial expression. What was he getting at? "Why is this so important anyway? What about my current psyche?"